THE effects of addiction can harm the whole family, but are often hidden. Drugs and alcohol treatment service, Swanswell, wants to set up a new support and advocacy group in Coventry and Warwickshire for grandparents and relatives caring for children whose parents are substance abusers. Director Chris Robinson tells feature writer Catherine Vonledebur why 'kin carers' need a voice...

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PROBLEMATIC alcohol or illicit drug use is the most common causes of ‘kinship caring’.

Around 1.3million children in Britain are growing up in homes where one or both parents are addicted to drugs or alcohol – an exact figure is not known.

Yet few grandparents or relatives caring for the child of a loved one ask for support.

Rugby-based Swanswell, a charitable trust with 40 years experience of delivering successful community-based drug and alcohol treatment programmes, is looking to give ‘kin carers’ a voice.

Director of Services Chris Robinson said: “The actual number of people in a kinship care role in the UK isn’t known because not all cases are brought to the attention of social services.

“Grandparents and other relatives involved take on a massive responsibility, not knowing where to turn for support or feeling too ashamed to ask for help.

“But there’s nothing to be ashamed of and it’s OK to ask for help with what can be an incredibly difficult situation.

“So Swanswell’s looking to identify how many people in Coventry and Warwickshire are kinship carers and to form a regular support and advocacy group that they will lead.”

Swanswell would like to find out from carers what kind of support they need, and help raise their profile locally and nationally so they get the recognition they deserve.

Very often kin carers receive little support or financial help unaware that they should receive the same allowance as a foster carer.

Chris said: “We run a treatment service and provide housing support so there are lots of practical ways we can help. We do not want to assume we know what the main issues are.

“This group do not access the mainstream carers’ support, There may be some anxiety about asking for help in case the child will be taken away.

We want to assure kinship carers that if they contact us they will be dealt with in confidence.”

A survey by Grandparents Plus in 2010 suggested there were at least 200,000 grandparent carers in the UK, of which 46 per cent were caring for children due to their parents being involved in illicit drug use or alcoholism.

Swanswell, which runs services across the country including Rugby, Coventry, Leamington, Nuneaton, Birmingham, Sandwell, Leicestershire, and Rutland. It recently established a Carers’ Support group in Barnsley and also runs an online drug and alcohol clinic for the national parenting website, Netmums.

Swanswell would like to hear from grandparents, aunties, uncles, older siblings and other family members interested in getting involved in this new carers-led support group.

* For more information call Adele Farr on 02476 226619 or for more information about Swanswell visit www.swanswell.org

'My grandmother is the most consistent thing I've ever had'

FRANCES Bean Cobain – the daughter of the late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and singer Courtney Love – was 20-months-old when her father committed suicide.

Her parents heroin addiction is well documented.

The 19-year-old artist, was brought up by her mother, aunts, and her paternal grandmother.

Following Courtney’s 2003 overdose and subsequent arrest on drug charges, 11-year-old Frances Bean was put in the custody of Wendy O’Connor, her paternal grandmother.

In early 2005, Courtney won a lengthy legal battle to regain custody of her daughter , then 13.

On December 11, 2009, a California Superior Court in Los Angeles appointed O’Connor and Kimberly Cobain, her father’s sister, as temporary co-guardians.